Chapter 25 - Flight (CF)
The journey south upon leaving Kremstag was fraught with indecision aboard the SS Mahruav. Some of the crew wished to ring around the Mushroom Mainland on the southern side, and take the time to go around to Gusty Gulch the long way. Still others wanted to challenge Kremstag to keep his word, and risk the northern passage back toward Gusty Gulch. Yet others still wanted to stick to what Tubba said and continue south, see if they would stumble on something no one else had found before. Tubba’s hopes were not high - other Kingdoms had travelled to space in the Mushroom World, and if there was anything important left to be discovered, they would’ve heard of it. Still, he felt the excitement of some of the members of the group, to be travelling into less-known territory. Thus, he gave in to his heart, aching to see what was beyond the maps, rather than his head, which was telling him to ring around the Mushroom Mainland and go to Gusty Gulch. Days passed with only the clear blue water of the ocean in sight. The sun spewed heat mercilessly overhead, keeping most of the SS Mahruav crew below decks. Tubba, however, refused to leave the wheel, even for a few moments during the day, wanting to be at the wheel if they finally saw something. Once again, he felt strangely lethargic as he went about his day to day business on the SS Mahruav, even with Gonzales, Dibby and Galmajo for help. “Are you sure there’s someplace down here?” Dibby asked him after a few days, her twitching tail betraying concern about their course of action. Tubba had to use all of his self-restraint to not snap at her that he didn’t know, and that they could only hope, and calmly answer that if there was someplace, they would find it. “Should we turn around?” Galmajo had brought up to him a couple days later, bringing back Tubba’s feeling of frustration. He understood his friends were trying to make the correct decision, but Tubba felt... drawn. It was an inexplicable feeling... he just knew there was something here. Gonzales came a few more days later. Expecting to hear more words of discontent, Tubba braced himself for his best friend to chew him out. He was not prepared for the words that did come out of Gonzales’ mouth. “I feel a... longing, a desire, to see what’s beyond the shores we know. I feel like something’s... calling me, down south.” “That’s exactly how I feel!” Tubba emphasized to his friend, shocked to hear the same feeling, the exact same description of what Tubba was feeling. “I don’t feel like this is futile. I don’t feel like we’re going aimlessly.” This had confirmed to Tubba beyond all doubt that they were going the correct way. There was something calling both him and Gonzales. Two days after he had discussed with Gonzales what they were both feeling, the crow’s nest spotted an island on the horizon. It was a decently sized island, but nowhere close to the size of the Mushroom Mainland, let alone the Waffle Kingdom. Exchanging a glance with Gonzales - they both knew. This was the island that was calling them. It was a very tropical island, everything Tubba could see from offshore were the tall trees of a rainforest. It was giving him a Zaz Kingdom-esque flair, with the hot and humid temperatures, even offshore. The first patrol onto the island were Tubba’s closest friends - Dibby, Galmajo, Gonzales, and obviously Tubba. The soft sands of the beach quickly gave way to the lush greens of the rainforest... making Tubba feel strangely at home. There was something about the way the humid air moved as he walked, something about the rustle of the soft leaves in the gentle breeze... A glance at Gonzales, and catching the bliss in his friend’s eye told him that his friend was feeling the same way. Galmajo seemed comfortable as well, used to the rainforests of the Zaz Kingdom, but Dibby was edgy, jumping at every little noise, be it dripping water or insects and animals moving in the flora. “Calm down,” Tubba joked, feeling very lighthearted. “What’s going to hurt you? You’re already dead.” He took a few strides across the soft ground, weaving between vines and creepers. “There’s nothing here, Dibby. It’s fine.” He turned back to face his friends, surprised to see their shocked expressions. “What?” Tubba asked, since none of them seemed keen on answering. Gonzales was twitching uncomfortably, Galmajo’s eyes were fixed on a point above Tubba’s shoulder, and Dibby was pointing wordlessly behind Tubba. Spinning around, Tubba found himself staring into the bulging eyes of an old man. “OH, EW!” Tubba exclaimed, leaping backwards. The old man was wearing nothing but a half-hearted white loincloth, covering just the bare essentials - and that, poorly. His skin was wizened and wrinkled, his eyes clouded over with cataracts as they surveyed the scene in front of him, naturally bulgy. His chest was shrunken and all his ribs were showing clearly, his yellow skin hanging off him like his loincloth. His stickly arms were carrying, funnily enough, another stick, crudely shaped to look like a walking stick. “Huh,” the old man said, his voice rasping with age. “I haven’t seen wingless varieties in my entire time here. Did you get lost? This can be a big place if you’ve never left the village before.” His milky eyes focused to a point above the group, making Tubba question if he even knew they were there. A stab of pity echoed through him for this sickly, senile old man. “You’re mistaking us,” Galmajo said swiftly, clearly uncomfortable in the presence of such a pitiful being. “We’ve never been here before.” The old man started to say something, but Galmajo cut him off. “We’re just passing through. We’ll be gone soon. Sorry for bothering you.” The yellow-robed Magikoopa spun around and began to walk back toward the beach, Dibby floating behind him. Tubba felt a tug toward this old man, and since Gonzales stayed resolutely beside him, he guessed he felt the same way. The old man laughed throatily. “You think I’m senile,” he snorted like an animal through his chuckling. “Rest assured, I’m not losing my marbles - you just haven’t seen what I have. I am Eelee Reros Erkland.” “Who?” Dibby, Gonzales and Tubba chorused, but Galmajo had instantly spun around, his eyes lighting up with curiosity and suspicion. The yellow-robed Magikoopa took a few paces toward the old man, taking his spectacles off and surveying the old man’s sickly skin. “He’s definitely lost it.” Galmajo shrugged, turning away again. “Eelee Erkland has been dead for more than thirty-five years.” He scratched his face with a clawed hand awkwardly. “Eelee Erkland was a hero of the Mushroom Kingdom back in the 1980s. He and his friends were one of the major dissuading factors in Bowser launching his first attack on the Mushroom Kingdom. They vanished in early 1987. They’ve been dead and gone for over thirty-five years. He’s not Eelee.” The old man’s milky eyes glinted. “You guys are from the Mainland, aren’t you? I haven’t had visitors from the Mainland since I arrived here... long ago.” He turned around, seemingly uninterested with Tubba and his friends. “It doesn’t matter to me if you recognize me as who I am. But I suspect those two,” he flicked his cane in the direction of Tubba and Gonzales, “would like what I have to show them.” “Great!” Tubba perked up, feeling a tug in his belly. “Let’s go!” He said excitedly, prepared to follow the old man. Whatever this old man had to show them, his belly was tossing and turning like the last leaf on a tree just before winter. Something was here. Something big. “No way!” Galmajo hissed, crossing his scaled yellow hands in a quick “X,” before continuing. “You’re going to follow a suspicious, sickly old man who claims to be a hero from the Mushroom Kingdom’s past on what basis? Have you considered this could be a trap by Ludwig? Where even are the other heroes?” Galmajo shot at the old man. “If you’re Eelee, where’s Jamie, Rob, Yoshi and the rest?” A flash of anger echoed through the old man’s chalky eyes. “Michael,” he spat, before spinning away, tearing through the trees. Tubba didn’t wait another moment - he was seeing whatever was calling him disappear. Haring after the old man, he raced into the deeper portions of the rainforest, trying to keep the bony old man in sight, tripping and falling on many trailing vines. Hearing Gonzales thumping loudly through the jungle behind him, Tubba caught a glimpse of yellow skin disappearing somewhere above him. “Wha...?” He trailed off, glancing up. To his shock, the old man was leaping from branch to branch with confidence, climbing creepers with an ease that shouldn’t have be possible, steadily climbing up the tall jungle trees to the sky. Within seconds he was far above their head, at least thirty feet in the air, and he wasn’t even halfway up the tree. Tubba clambered up after him, feeling Gonzales boosting him from behind. Together, the two of them, much slower than the old man, began to ascend the tree, avoiding the creepers and sticking to the burliest branches, watching as the ground shrunk beneath their feet. Tubba shivered a little - he didn’t like heights, but the old man was still far above their heads. The elderly man took about fifteen minutes to scale the tree entirely, and his movements were languid and confident. Tubba and Gonzales, immensely uncomfortable, took nearly quintuple the time, finally heaving themselves into the topmost branches of the tree. “Took you long enough,” the old man snorted, his loincloth fluttering in the slight breeze. He didn’t seem to be chilly, even though both Gonzales and Tubba were shivering in the exposed area of the top of the tree. There were branches full of leaves around them, but they were far and few between, allowing everyone to look out over the jungle. Tubba realized that they had climbed one of the highest trees. He didn’t let either Gonzales or Tubba make an excuse. “Look out to the trees,” he said, his voice cracking with age. “Find a place that you have never known, but has always been a part of you.” Tubba obeyed the old man, squinting his eyes as he observed the trees below them. He could see a clearing, with trees that looked to be unnaturally short. Between those trees, he could see large planks of wood, what looked to be huts with leaves on top, and shapes flitting between them. His breath caught in his mouth. Those shapes were shapes he knew, except for one tiny detail. Those were Clubbas. With wings.